bear(d)s of maryland sheep and wool

May 10, 2011

i feel like everyone who blogs about a fiber festival
covers three basic things:
sheep,
their haul,
and famous people.
(i saw clara parkes coming out of the bathroom,
and am 99% sure i saw anna zilboorg.
can anyone confirm that one?)

but how many pictures of cute sheep can one look at
before you realize you’re bored out of your skull?
so on sunday, the last day of the festival,
i decided to photograph something different,
something i saw all around the fairgrounds this year:

men.

specifically bearded men.
they seemed to be everywhere,
which is lucky since, at least to me,
facial hair is very sexy.

it took tremendous energy to overcome my shyness,
and ask total strangers if i could take a picture of them.
so for about every five beards i saw,
i asked one for a photo.

and now without further ado,
i give you, the bear(d)s of maryland sheep and wool!

this was my first beard of the day. his wife, a shy raveler, sent him over to ask if i was the infamous “hotpants” from the ravelry forum. he asked to take my photo so i thought it was only right to ask for his.
(his accent was wicked cool as well).
immeditately after, this guy rolled up. you gotta respect a dude who can commit to that kind of length. i could never grow my beard that long. plus, you may notice he is smoking in this photo, which of course makes him extra cool. what? you never knew smoking makes you cool?
well, it does.
then we have kilty mcbeard as i like to call him. i’d seen him the day before, and when i decided to undertake this project, i hoped he’d be there sunday as well. he gets kudos for his whole ensemble, from the leather hat, to the cabled vest, to the utilikilt. there were a lot of guys in utilikilts at the festival, but many of them weren’t flattering. his was the right color and length. seriously guys, your utilikilts are too long! you need to shorten them up or else you look like 6th grade catholic school girls. definitely not hot.
i had this man in mind as well when i decided to shoot some beards, if for no other reason than he is exactly one of my good friend’s type (you know who you are, buster). i’ve forgotten his name, but i believe he is the proprietor of the trawitz sheepskin products booth. while from afar he’s very imposing, he was willing to model his sheepy hat, which is frankly a little hilarious.
he may be able to snap my not-so-little ass in half,but i think that smile deserves a second shot for sure.

i almost missed this beard. i was standing on the main drag, and one of my friends yelled “beard!” i immediately stopped him with my, “excuse me sir” line, only to realize it was my fibery friend tammy‘s husband, who i had just talked to the day before. he accused me of using his image for nefarious reasons. someone help me think of one. i wouldn’t want to disappoint.

here we have a beard in motion. i caught this guy in passing in the main barn. he may have a confederate flag pin on his hat (boo!), but his hat/suspenders/pocket protector combo makes this beard worth noting.

i saw this little guy, walking around with his pretty girl, holding hands, clearly in love. rather than make me vomit, it touched me, and gave me the courage to ask for his photo.apparently, i’m going soft in my old age.

the final beard i captured belongs to the the sanguine gryphon‘s cute male worker bee. i have to admit he was my festival crush, and i made sure i told everyone to hit up their booth to take a peek. to me, he looks like stephen west‘s older, beefier brother, and believe me, this photo doesn’t do him justice. i did ask to take his photo, but even on the last day, he was too busy to strike a pose. so i did what any good knitting blogger would do.i kinneared him.

there is of course my beard,
meager though it may be.
it had a lovely time at the festival.

and because it’s obligatory,
this is my haul:jennie the potter yarn bowl (victory is mine!),
a crochet hook roll up.
and some bugga!.
nothing too outrageous,
but these four little guys still put me over budget.

Utilikilts apparently haven’t made it west of the Mississippi yet, although it’s early in the festival season (both music and fiber). I’ll keep an eye out. Hubby here does the seasonal beard (start growing on Halloween, shave off on Spring Equinox), so I get best of both worlds. He’s got kickass legs, wonder if I could get him to wear a utilikilt….

Ha! So funny. I think the one with the cigarette is an old boyfriend. Oh jeez, memories of my mountain man boyfriend phase. So glad that ran its course.
I like your haul. Good job with the shopping.
I am still jealous of all the eastern U.S. events. I say again, San Diego is a wasteland. (I know I am ungrateful)
Nancy Paris

Thanks for the great eye candy. I am, however, conflicted. I have this thing for men in kilts.. so, be still my heart…next time you see a man in a kilt – get his number for me… but here is the conflict.. my own personal little rule of little or no hair where the mouth goes.. so lots of facial hair – not so great….but the kilt.. good lord, i could ignore the facial hair..did you say something about knitting?? i got distracted…

So, you were around a number of men wearing utilikilts. Did you take a survey to see how many were wearing theirs in the manner of traditional Scottish kilts — and how many were wearing support garments from Wally-World or Tar-zhay underneath? You don’t have to name names. . .

Excellent post! Much more interesting than sheep. It was fun helping you beard spot. Sadly I couldn’t find the elusive baldy bush face. Here is the beard video of Mr. Kim I told you about. My huzbeast is good crazy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIpwLQVhe40

[…] Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival 2011 was great. This is my 3rd year attending the festival. My knitting buddies Cheryl, Gabrielle and Rachel went with me and I can say a good time was had by all. The weather was on our side this year. Sunny, 70s with a light breeze. Couldn’t have asked for better weather. And unfortunately, I did not see Hotpants aka Steven, nor did I take photos of beards. […]